New Pre-Sorted Snowflake Issue

Just a curiosity question. The purchase price for a single stamp of the new non-denominated Snowflake issue is 10 cents according to the October Linn's. Is this stamp used to make up a difference in the presorted postal rate for an item or is there actually something that can still be mailed for ten cents? A cursory check I made seems to indicate that even the typical postcard advertisement costs a few pennies more to send. Any ideas?

omxfi, understand all that, but again what can you mail (if anything) with a ten cent stamp? Like I mentioned in my previous note, even a pre-sorted postcard costs more than 10 cents to mail. If it isn't make-up postage, then what is its purpose?

These and other stamps meant for bulk mailing typically pay only part of the applicable rate. The bulk mailer pays the difference between the actual cost and the value of the stamp affixed at time of mailing.

Bulk rate stamps can be used on non-bulk mailings by anyone holding a permit to use precanceled stamps. They can be used in combination with other stamps to make up the full rate for the desired service. The link below has information on acquiring and using the permit.

http://www.pnc3.org/Reference/Precancels.php